Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-08-27
ONE OF THE HEROES.
AN AMERICAN JOURNALISTS TRIP
ACROSS THE DESERT TO khlvA.

A Journey of COO Miles Through silent
Desolation-3OO Miles Of Desert-Re-
porting the Massacres of Bulgaria
The Grave.
And now we come to another American
who should be enshrined as one Of the
heroes Of the century. His name Is j. A.
MacGahan. Like many other great men
he was from Ohio. He went TO Europe TO
complete his collegiate studies. The
Franco Prussian war broke out. He en-
tered the field as a correspondent. 10
did good work, and when the war closed
he was in journalism for life. He visited
Siberia and described it's life. Informa-
ton reached him that Gen. Kaufman and
he Grand Duke Nicolas were about to
make ar assault on khiva. 1t was Rus
sia's boldest move toward India. He de-
termined to witness it. He hurried south,
but missed the moving column. Then he
prepared for what proved TO be one OF the
most daring rides ever made by man. 1t
was a journey of 600 miles through silent
desolation, with 800 miles Of desert.
Many times he lost his way. Several
times he and his men were Frustrated by
the heat and thrown upon the sands, only
TO be revived by the coming OF the night.
Blu despite the loss Of horses, despite the
daily rebellion Of his attendants, despite
frequent exhaustion and semi-starvation
for nearly two months, he pushed through
the arid wastes. All through that region
he was called "Molodyety"-a brave fell
low.
wanted him back. Twenty-Five Cossacks,
cylnnliI hArpny,n1 mann .1,.r,t14l .,
overtake him. For nearly 900 miles they
chased him across that terrible country,
but when they arrived at a hating place
they always found that MacGahan had
left it a few hours before. The people
ever laughed at the idea of their trying to
catch such a brave fellow as the young
American. Nay, more, they went SO far
as TO put MacGahan's pursuers off the
track; and in the town from which they
started, the admiration for the correspou-
dents pluck was SO great that n celebra-
ton was arranged to welcome him should
he be overtaken and brought back. Bat
he was not overtaken.
He had started for Khiva, and TO Khiva
he would 60. He entered the Russian
camp n spector Of himself. Officers
stopped in the midst Of battle to express
their admiration. He had one chance in
n hundred of getting through that desert
alive. He accepted it, and he not only
won, but he eluded the Cossacks. He
saw khiva taken. lie was one Of the
first TO enter its portals, and his descrip-
ton OF it and the fight stands on record as
a masterpiece Of its kind.
Why did he risk his life in this way3
Every stop he took, every pound of flesh
he lost-and lie lost nearly all of twas
for one purpose, and one only to get lie
news, to reach Khiva, TO lay before tic
world the story Of Russia's first step tow-
ard India.
ANOTHER ACHIEVEMENT.
Nor was this his last achievement. In
the spring Of 1876 he was in London.
Picking up a paper, he read q brief dis
patch telling of the Turkish massacre N
Bulgaria. He saw the tremendous inn
portancc Of the item. In an hour he bad
! arranged TO go TO Bulgaria. lie hurried
10 the scene Of the crimes. He painted
them in master strokes. He pictured Ito
dead girls in the pillaged towns. He went
everywhere, cheering the people, assisting
them, pleading their cause with his pen,
telling them that the car would aveagc
the outrage, and bidding them take cour-
49, III III 'Atf iS baS tllC
complexion Of European politics. His let
tcrs were the sensation Of the world.
Beaconstlcld, the friend Of the Turk, arose
in the house Of comAlons and denounced
them as false; he had official denials tele-
graphed from Constantinople.
But MacGahan rode on and wrote on,
until the Russian army crossed the Pruth,
and then, attached 10 the staff OF the COM
handing officer, he went through the lire
and smoke, writing his splendid descrip-
lions in the midst of battle; fighting and
laughing and writing, and clectrifying the
world by the words he placed on the telc-
graph wires. lie saw rlevna fall; he was
wounded in Schipka Pass; he saw all the
big events of the war. When lgnatief
drew the famous treaty at San Stefan,
he said that it would not stand and he
lived TO see it torn up and lar he'd at. He
never made a prediction that was not full
filled. No charge, except the futile lie
NAL by Disraeli, was ever made against
his veracity. No man in Europe enjoyed
n higher esteem and respect than aid he.
And when, nine years ago last Thurs
day, n swift fever carried him beyond
all earthly wars, the Russian, Gen. Skobe-
left, closed his eyes and shed tears at his
grave. The Ohio legislature had his re-
mains removed TO his native state. When
the Grand Duke Nicholas heard OF his
death, he said: TOO badl He would nav
been governor Of Bulgaria" And as reg
ularly rs the 9th of June comes, every
hamlet, every village, every city of Bull
garia commemorate his death and sends
up prayers for the repose Of one Of the
noblest souls that God ever de.-Lynn
r.. Meekins' address.
A New Beverage.